Key facts
- Andy Burnham has outlined a blueprint for his potential premiership, emphasizing significant devolution of power.
- A key proposal is the establishment of "Number 10 North," a prime ministerial office to be based in Manchester.
- This new office would oversee a large-scale council housebuilding program.
- Burnham plans to grant new powers to elected leaders across the UK, including Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
- The vision aims to rebalance power away from Westminster and address perceived flaws in the current political system.
Andy Burnham, who previously sought the premiership twice, is now presented as a potential future prime minister, with his decade as Mayor of Greater Manchester seen as instrumental to this positioning. In his first speech as presumptive prime minister, delivered in Manchester, Burnham detailed his vision for the nation, centered on what he terms "Manchesterism" – using his approach in Greater Manchester as a model for the rest of the country.
A significant announcement was the creation of "Number 10 North," a new prime ministerial office to be based in Manchester. This office would reportedly be responsible for the "biggest council housebuilding programme since the postwar period," potentially altering the roles of existing government departments. Burnham also pledged to devolve new powers to locally-elected leaders nationwide, including in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, aiming for the "biggest rebalancing of power" in political history.
While the speech was framed as economic, focusing on raising living standards and reforming business rates, its core theme was the distribution of political power. Burnham criticized the "broken" Westminster system and advocated for a "more collaborative politics," suggesting a potential argument for cross-party talks on social care. He also made efforts to acknowledge the importance of various regions, including rural and coastal communities, and London, possibly in response to some unease among Labour MPs representing seats in London and the South East regarding his strong northern association.
The article notes that while Burnham presented a clear vision, many details remain to be filled in. It also contrasts his apparent ease and confidence with the challenging atmosphere of current parliamentary politics, suggesting that making politics "fun again" could be key to earning support from Labour MPs.